 Summary of this article
- Women made up only about 11% of candidates (128 of 1,081), revealing that “record participation” headlines overstate progress.
- Slight increase in elected women and cabinet representation under Hemant Soren, though still far from parity.
- Deepika Pandey Singh’s rise, built through years of grassroots work, organisational roles, and constituency engagement, sets her apart in a landscape often shaped by political lineage.
At first glance, the headlines about women’s participation in the 2024 Jharkhand Assembly elections often create the impression that political parties have finally begun to close the gap between men and women candidates. For years, electoral politics in the state have remained heavily tilted in towards men, so the language of “record participation” sounded encouraging. |
